


audacity

by lunamars (lunnamars)



Category: One Piece
Genre: Denial of Feelings, Enemies to Friends, F/M, Fluff, Jealousy, Post-Punk Hazard Arc, Post-Time Skip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:27:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24693775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunnamars/pseuds/lunamars
Summary: She was there, dressed in her cute little dress and boots, wearing a pretty and carefree smile just to torment him. To spit on his face and look down on him — he couldfeelit.
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro & Tashigi, Roronoa Zoro/Tashigi, Trafalgar D. Water Law & Tashigi
Comments: 15
Kudos: 49
Collections: ZoTash prompts, ZoTash prompts: jealousy + open sea





	audacity

**Author's Note:**

> As much as I like me some angst (don't worry, I'm bottling all up so I can unleash at once in some other fic), I decided for something light and simple this time! This is also another fic for the prompts we decide in our ZoTash discord (wanna join us?) and this one is **Jealousy + open sea**. Hope you all like it!

The nerve of this woman to come on his ship, eat with them, sail with them until the next island; drink his fucking booze, talk freely with his people like she belonged there, only to ultimately spend the whole fucking night stuck to the damned goth doctor, who, for the record, wasn’t even part of his crew.

And laugh! She had the audacity to force him to listen to her musical laugh, that damned woman. And why the fuck is she laughing? Trafalgar D. Water Law isn’t that funny, as far as he can remember. 

His insides are churning and he is feeling kind of dizzy, but he doesn’t fucking know why. Maybe too much booze? But he's Roronoa Zoro, there's no such thing as too much booze. Or maybe booze plus Sunny crashing lightly against the waves? They were sailing and partying, after all. Perhaps it is all of it together that's making him uncomfortable.

Isn't she too fucking close? Why is she so close? Since when were they friends? Zoro was under the impression she couldn’t stand  _ any  _ pirate, and the last time he checked, Law was one. A powerful one, in fact. Basically an Emperor, just like Luffy.

So the swordsman could say for sure, Tra-guy is not just  _ any _ pirate.

Then Zoro gapes, blinks once, twice, three times. He almost drops his mug full of beer when the realization hits him. 

Captain Glasses must like the company of powerful pirates and hell yeah, he is a fucking powerful pirate, powerful swordsman; but so is Law. And Zoro  _ is definitely not an Emperor. _

_ The. _

_ Nerve. _

_ Of. _

_ This.  _

_ Woman. _

She was there, dressed in her cute little dress and boots, wearing a pretty and carefree smile just to torment him. To spit on his face and look down on him — he could  _ feel _ it.

Oh, no, no. He would give her a piece of his mind. Or Tra-guy. It doesn't fucking matter.  _ One of them better give me some fucking answers. _

— 

“You're too serious, Trafalgar.”

“I’m here to tend to the wounded, not to make a circus presentation,” he scoffs. Who does this woman think she is? He's the Surgeon of Death, not a fucking clown.

She laughs and he frowns. “Are you drunk, woman?”

“No, I'm just happy, doctor,” she grins and hums her reply.

_ She must be drunk, it's the only explanation. _ Besides, she was the one who said she'd rather die than accept the help of pirates, so he was under the impression she wasn't fond of any of them. "If I remember correctly, you were on the ground almost dead and we had to fetch you, Zoro-ya and I. You have nothing to be happy about.”

“Wow, never thought I'd see Trafalgar D. Water Law talking so much in one day.” She feigns surprise, and oh, how she's fucking pissing him off. A vein pops in his forehead and he wonders if everyone that steps on that damn ship suddenly turns into an annoying mess like its Captain.

He should have let her die.

“Do you want me to separate your body again?” He glares at her, trying to pierce her skull. The nerve of this woman. First, she scolds him in front of everybody because he got hurt  _ trying to save her fucking ass _ and now, she wants to make fun of him? No, that's not gonna happen.

She glares back and he thinks he sees a flash of hurt in her eyes. She leans against the wooden railing, watching the sea, he's glad his remark was able to make her clamp her mouth shut and not say anything else for a good amount of time.

_ Great. I can leave now. _

He doesn't though. What he actually does, instead, is wonder why the fuck she tagged along with him this night. She's not around the Strawhats or Smoker, she's not even trying to fight Zoro-ya or play with Tony-ya, or even chat with the women. 

No. She decided to stay with  _ him _ .

_ I really ain’t allowed any peace when I’m with these people. _

He asks then, “Why are you happy?”

She turns to him, smiling earnestly. “We won, my men are safe, and I was able to fight properly," the marine sighs deeply but continues, "Yes, I almost died, but I'm here, alive, am I not? I think it's enough to be happy.”

“Well, it sickens me,” he answers, grimacing as if she had just said something horrible.

The marine woman has the audacity to roll her fucking eyes and snicker, “I came to thank you. You're awful, but you helped a lot today.”

Her eyes are shining like she's really hazy by some booze, but he didn't see her drinking anything other than the juice Blackleg-ya offered her. So why was she there? With him?

He scoffed and smirked, trying to irk her, “Thanking a pirate? Be careful, Lady Sailor, next you'll be thanking Zoro-ya too.” 

“I didn't thank him yet, but I will. Even though I don't think he cares very much,” she pouts and crosses her arms.  _ Weird, weird woman _ . It seems that, since he met the Strawhats, fate decided to make him meet and interact with the oddest people in the world. Law was so so tired of that, but for an unknown reason, he doesn't feel like caring about that right now. 

She actually helped him earlier by tending to his wounds, even though he said countless times he didn't need it. He was a doctor, for fuck's sake! But for that reason alone, he indulges her strange behavior a little bit more.

He snorts and looks away. “And what makes you think I care, woman?”

“I don't. But you still being here means you accept the apology, doesn’t it?”

_ Tch. The nerve of this woman. _

—

"Oi, Mosshead, why are you sulking here in the corner?" Sanji had finally been freed from his job of cooking for the entire Strawhat crew, plus Law's crew, and Bartolomeo's crew. What the hell all those people were doing here again?

"I'm not sulking, Swirly Brows," he growls.

He clearly is, but he'd only admit it to the pervert cook when hell froze over.

"You are. Are you PMSing, shitty swordsman?" The blonde scoffs while lighting a cigarette. 

Zoro glares at him, and sulking or not, he still can fucking summon a murderous aura, thank you very much.

"Just shut up and get lost, shitty cook," he snarls, voice deep enough so the other man would get his point and leave him alone.

"Are you drunk?" Sanji couldn’t even contain his surprise but no, the swordsman is not drunk. Roronoa Zoro does know how to hold his liquor. And he's about to give him a sharp and scathing come back, but the sound of a laugh tears his gaze away from the cook.

She is laughing again, still glued to the fucking doctor. Is she going to do that the whole fucking night? 

Zoro instantly forgets Sanji's presence, and a deep frown settles on his face. Anyone that would look his way would be almost sure he wanted to murder either Tashigi or Law. Or both.

"Oh no, it's worse. You're jealous."

He snaps his head back to the cook and scowls. Is everyone trying to piss him off today? 

"What? Are you fucking kidding me? Jealous of what?" Zoro stares at Sanji as if he was the dumbest person in the world.

"Tra-guy. Or Tashigi-chan. God knows what the hell you’re into."

"I swear I'm gonna murder you."

All of a sudden, Sunny is hit by a huge wave, pushing everyone forward and then backward. He sees Glasses losing her balance because as the whole world knows, she's a total klutz and she would fall without a doubt; before she even trips, Law's hand is around her waist and the other grabbing the railing. And if Zoro didn't want to murder someone before, now he sure does… 

Everything calms down and Sanji says, getting Zoro’s attention again, "Well, you better do that later. For some odd reason, Tashigi-chan is really having a good time with goth boy."

"Like I care," he huffs.

“Ooooh, Mosshead, I think you should,” and then the cook nods in the direction of the Marine and the doctor. 

Law had a strange expression Zoro hadn’t seen on his face yet, and still had an arm around the waist of a very red Tashigi.

_ You've got to be fucking kidding me. _

—

"You gotta be more careful, marine woman," he says in a serious tone. The sea calmed down, but she’s still wobbling and he’s still holding her by the waist. He’s pretty sure she’d have fallen flat on the ground if he didn’t. 

_ She’s too clumsy. Almost like Cora-san. Maybe if I make her light a cigarette, she’d set herself on fire too? _

The idea is rather appealing to him.

"A-Ah, y-yes. I-I'm sorry. I'm really a klutz, unfortunately," she laughs, rubbing the back of her neck, fully embarrassed and blushing fiercely.

Law just nods and releases her. She seemed so freaking small and light in his arm that it almost doesn’t match with the strength he saw in her on the battlefield. She was not as strong as him or Zoro-ya, but she had a good spirit. She also seems disgustingly kind, and that is another thing that reminded him of  _ that man _ .

“Why are you here?” He voices his doubt because, in all honesty, he did want to be left the fuck alone. The Strawhats and their weird fleet are too loud, too noisy, and too happy. He can’t handle them for too long. But, between them and the marine, she was the better option, considering she was able to keep her mouth shut sometimes. 

“What do you— I’m here because we had to help civilians. That’s what the Navy is for.” She glances at him, confused as he regarded her constant presence by his side. The woman had definitely piqued his curiosity, and he doesn’t know why. But it doesn’t matter because he knows people are too troublesome, and he has no interest in trying to understand her.

“I mean with me. Why are you here, woman?” He questions anyway.

“Do you want me to leave?” She pouts and that irks him. Who does she think she is? He is, by definition, her enemy. They are not friends and she shouldn’t throw a tantrum with a person she barely knows. 

However, he ponders her question, doesn’t answer anything. Small talk is not his forte and something he doesn’t give any importance to whatsoever. So, he chooses to let  _ her _ talk.  _ It is way better than putting up with Strawhat-ya’s shenanigans. _

“I’m gonna take the silence as a no then,” she tilts her head and raises a single eyebrow.

Law just glares at her, silent as ever.  _ Hmph, do as you wish, weird woman. _

“Why you ask? Hum… There are some things I’m trying to change. I know you’ve been a jackass to me, but you did help. My men, the islanders, and myself,” she seems sincere and he believes it.  _ Being honest with a pirate. Aren’t you easy prey? _ She continues in a low voice, “And I know it’s weird, the fact I’m thanking a pirate, but I think this alliance will happen again. So I might as well get used to it already.”

He grunts and nods, knowing what she says is true. Above all, it’s exactly how he feels about Strawhat-ya and his annoying fleet.  _ She blabbers and is clumsy as fuck, but she’s a sensible person. I knew that from the moment she begged for her body at Punk Hazard. She prioritized her men. _

Another wave hits Sunny but with less force than the last. It’s enough for the woman to lose her footing once more. This time she really falls even with him rushing to hold her, and inevitably, both are on the floor, having fallen on their butts. 

They’re still holding each other’s forearms, eyes widened and he’s left gaping. Suddenly everyone is silent, and he knows he should scold her or shout at her for making him make a fool out of himself, but soon Strawhat-ya starts laughing out loud and everyone follows him. 

The marine looks away but isn’t able to stop the smile from spreading on her face. Shortly, the soft smile turns into a giggle and finally sets into a joyful laugh.

“I-I’m so s-sorry, Trafalgar! I’m really a mess. Forgive me for knocking you down.”

_ Just like Cora-san. _

Law smirks, memories of the past flooding in. Not the bad ones though. “You really remind me of a person dear to me, Lady Sailor. A very clumsy person.”

“Oh. T-Thanks?” She blushes and he feels somewhat uneasy.  _ Curious. _

But before he can even respond, Luffy is already entangled around his neck, shouting things he can’t understand, the man clearly very drunk, and trying to drag him into the madness that always surrounds him. His eyes never leave hers though, and while he’s being pulled by the Strawhats’ Captain, he catches the light smile she sends his way.

And the glare and scowl of a green-haired man. 

_ Tch. These people. So fucking troublesome.  _

—

A smile. A fucking soft smile is what she gave him. Hasn’t she given him enough? Smiles, giggles, chuckles, even her fucking waist!

He knew what was going to happen the moment the ridiculous weak wave hit them. Zoro had even rushed to her side from the other side of the ship, but of course, the fucking doctor had already helped. What was he thinking anyway? She was basically glued to the man like they were fucking Siamese twins.

He approaches her but she doesn’t seem to notice him, too busy watching how easily Tra-guy had been trapped in Luffy's shenanigans; two hands gripping her arm, he tries to stabilize her before she trips again because the women might have developed a habit of falling. She gasps and turns to look at him in a swift movement, eyebrows raised, completely surprised. 

“R-Roronoa!” Her surprise turns into a frown and then, she’s scowling at him as usual.

_ Oh. So Mr. Emperor deserves the smiles and I deserve the angry look? Damned woman. _

“What? I only tried to help, woman.” 

“Because now you think I can't even stand still?” She glares at him, defiant as ever.

“Maybe, madam cap’n? You basically proved that not even a minute ago,” he smirks, triumphant. 

“You—!” The marine huffs and crosses her arms.  _ What the fuck is wrong with this woman? It’s like she truly is annoyed by me. _

Zoro decides to sit with his back leaned against the railing, and she hesitates for a couple of seconds but follows him. The woman holds her legs and he keeps watching her from out of the corner of his eye. “Ya know… for someone who said loud and clear that she hates Tra-guy, you seemed pretty fucking comfortable.”

The clumsy woman stares angrily at him and answers, displeased "What? So people can’t change their minds, Roronoa?"

Zoro snorts and crosses his arms.  _ The audacity of this fucking marine. Come in here and try to teach me a moral lesson. _ "So  _ you _ , the protector of justice, changed your mind about a pirate?"

"You all actually made me change my mind about pirates," the Captain answers with her jaws clenched. He's surprised by what she said, but there’s no way in hell he would tell her. If all she gives him are scowls and disgusted looks, then he would give her fucking nothing.

But how annoying this woman is because now he has an itch under his skin, something he wouldn’t be able to reach or remove. He knows it’s plain curiosity, in the form of a question he has been wondering for quite some time; now that she touched on the subject, he wants to ask.

_ Ah, fuck it. I want to know, so I’ll ask. I’m not fucking afraid of you. _

"And you changed your mind about me, Glasses?" He raises his face, summons his most serious expression, trying to not make his inner turmoil noticeable so he could fulfill his wish to know the answer to that question.

Glasses breaks eye contact and rests her head on her knees. She has her brows furrowed, clearly in thought. Did she really have to take so much time to give him a fucking answer? Either way, he feels his chest fill with hope and hates the unusual feeling.  _ I think I’m spending too much time with that shitty cook. _

Then she sighs deeply and looks straight at him. Courage and honesty, both in her chocolate brown eyes.  _ Fucking beautiful eyes. _ "Yeah. Yeah, I did."

Zoro swallows hard and it’s pathetic how his palms are sweating because of a simple acknowledgment. She’s still staring at him and this time, he’s the one to look away.  _ Too damn honest, this woman. You’re gonna be easy prey one of these days. _

Then he clears his throat and tries to ignore his discomfort. "So now you're friends with Tra-guy?"

"Huh? Friends are a bit of a stretch. He's not very fond of me. And to be fair, I wasn’t either."

“But even then, you spent the whole night with him, madam cap’n.”

“Hah! What? Are you jealous, Roronoa?” She snickers, clearly mocking him. “Sad I didn’t want to steal you swords this time?”

“Hell no! You wish, sword nerd. I just wanted to know when you started being such a hypocrite,” he snorts, desperate for a comeback.

“Hypocrite?! The nerve of you to tell me something like that! I own up to my mistakes and misjudgments, Roronoa!” She is fuming and he has to admit that the fire in her eyes was beautiful as hell. He saw how they were blazing when he and the Captain were fighting and it had been fucking fascinating seeing Glasses defeating opponent after opponent — matching his pace, battling by his side. This time he was able to hear her shouts and watch her movements. 

It had been almost…  _ seductive _ .

The problem was that as soon as the whole ordeal was over, she came back to her suspicious demeanor towards him, but she was all smiles and sympathy with the doctor.  _ I helped her as much as Tra-guy did, but I'm the one she spites. _

"I wanted to thank you though. I already thanked Trafalgar for all the help I know he was not so willing to offer, but that he did anyway," she spoke softly and looked up to the sky. "Things are really complicated around the world and we're in constant battles now, so my prejudice has no place in here. That's why I was close to him today. He tended to all the wounded because he said he’s a doctor before he's a pirate."

"Ooh… then he's the only one you want to apologize to because you have a thing for doctors, Captain Glasses?" He shoots her a crooked smile full of the venom he is feeling in the pit of his stomach. 

_ Not an Emperor then, but a doctor, huh? You really have high standards, stupid woman. _

"What? No! It’s because I'm trying to be more considerate with the people I used to loathe!" She is clenching her fists, utterly exasperated. "Including you!"

_ Those are honest words, I'm sure. And it's fucking weird to be on the receiving end of it. _

"Um. I see." He huffs and turns his attention towards his crew. 

The doctor is there, enduring Luffy's never-ending happiness, but not looking very comfortable — there are two veins popping on his forehead and he does seem to want to throw the rubber man in the water. However, Zoro doesn't miss the fleeting look he sends her way, fast and subtle.  _ What the fuck do you want, Tra-guy? _

Maybe it didn’t go unnoticed by her because soon she's speaking again, uncharacteristic mirth in her voice. "He's a weird guy though. Cold and a bit dark, but he's very smart. And he's way less noisy than your Captain."

He turns to look at her, his stomach churning once again.  _ Is she really gonna keep fucking talking about him the whole night? For fuck's sake.  _ He asks, trying to provoke her and hide his own annoyance, "Haa… then he's your favorite pirate, huh?"

She gaps, dumbfounded, and at a loss for words. "H-Huh? W-What's wrong with you tonight?"

All of a sudden, the cook is in front of them with a mug and some booze. "Don't mind him, Tashigi-chan!" He fills it and hands it to her, delicate and careful movements as usual. Then just scowls at him and the man has the fucking courage to not bring any beer for him. Zoro glares, but the pervert only snickers, “This dumbass just wanted to spend some quality time with you, but he’s too stupid to admit it.”

That's it. People took the day to make fun of him and he's starting to get really mad.  _ All because of the arrogance of this woman. _

Zoro is on his feet in a second, cursing and ready to cut him. "Haa? What the hell are you talking about?! Just shut up! Who would like to spend time with this annoying woman?!”

Her mouth is wide open and soon, indignation is on her features, making her shout at him, "What? You—! How dare you?! You're such a jerk, Roronoa!!"

_ Shit. _

Glasses gets up, bows slightly to the cook, and then she's looking daggers at him before leaving to sit by Nami and Robin's side. Did he act like an ass? Yes, sort of. Did he mean to upset her more? Maybe. Even though he knows they still have this communication problem, where they usually fuck up any good conversation because he can’t fucking say what he really means sometimes.

_ But she has broken some barriers today. Maybe it's time for me to fucking do the same. _

She's still talking to the girls when the doctor willingly approaches her. To anyone, the surgeon doesn't seem interested at all, but Zoro can call bullshit since Tra-guy's eyes never leave hers. 

He hears the cook facepalming and saying with a disappointed tone. "Geez, you're so stupid. Make sure you apologize, you idiot swordsman."

An annoyed curl in his lips appears and he just snorts, "Shut up, Ero-cook."

Glasses freaking laughs again at some stupid joke from Nami and he sees the doctor smirking. 

_ Fucking hell, it's gonna be a long night. _

—

The party is almost ending and everyone seems pretty wasted in Zoro's opinion. He feels kind of dizzy and maybe this time he might really get drunk. He feels like he’s almost losing his lucidness and all because of the fucking Navy Captain. 

She had spent most of the time glued to the girls and Tra-guy, who seemed to always find a way to sneak out of Luffy's iron grasp only to find his way towards her. He thought it was a very curious behavior of the doctor, remaining by her side all the while not looking like he wanted to be there. The woman, on the other hand, seemed very content that Tra-guy was letting her talk to her heart's content. 

That was something Zoro didn't fucking do.

And to show her discontent about his past behavior, every time she’d look his way, it would always be a glare and no smiles. Not a single fucking smile. None. She even avoided sitting next to him when he joined everyone in the middle of the deck! 

_ Dealing with this woman seems way worse than fighting that fucking Oars. _

But he’s big enough already to own up to his mistakes — he had been fucking rude to her and had said a fucking untruth. Simple as that. He knew he had fucked up big time and he deserved her cold shoulder. 

So he drank non-stop to muster the courage to move his ass and apologize to her. 

Needless to say, he also drank to dull the knots in his stomach whenever she would just brush past him, without even a glance, appearing to be very joyful when not around him. She is still there though and Zoro still keeps watching her the same way he did the whole fucking night.  _ Annoying clumsy woman, forcing me to hear her soft voice and fucking see her in her cute little dress and boots. _

He sighs because that’s not how he expected the night to go and then sighs a second time because enough is enough and he knew he was being a coward, delaying the inevitable like that. 

Zoro sees Tra-guy moving and has a suspicion where the goth doctor is heading to.  _ Not this time, doc. _

“Oi, Luffy!” Zoro shouts his Captain’s name, getting his attention right away. “Tra-guy wants to talk to you!”

Luffy’s face lights up with his usual childish grin while the doctor stops dead in his tracks, like a deer caught in the headlights. Zoro smirks the moment his Captain stretches his arms, wrapping them around the other man’s torso, and right away, three veins pop on his forehead. Before he’s completely pulled to where the rubber man and the others are still sitting and drinking, Zoro catches the glare and the scowl Trafalgar sends him. 

_ Heh. It serves you right, Tra-guy. _

Glasses is gaping again, with the juice Nami had brought to her in her hands, and with a look of disbelief. And he could understand where that comes from — Luffy had the doctor by his neck, singing, and drinking while the other was trying to get out of his hold.

He approaches her and deadpans, "Yeah. That's Luffy for ya."

"I see." She blinks another time, still not facing him. "What do you want, Roronoa?"

Zoro clenches his jaw and grunts, "Hah? Damn, woman, can't I come and talk to you?"

Now she turns to him, anger flickering in her gaze, and hisses, "Wasn't it you who said that you didn't like to spend time with me just a while ago?"

"Hmph. About that—"

She raises her hand, forcing him to shut his mouth, and continues in a surprisingly complacent tone, "It's fine really. Sometimes people just don't get along. And it's nobody's fault," then she's glaring fiercely and it almost made him take a step back. Almost. "But I swear to God, Roronoa, if you say anything like that again, I'll destroy your face."

She would. He saw her fists coated in black and saw how powerful her punch was.  _ That surely broke some fucking necks and backs. _

He sighs and decides that it is about time he apologizes. "Listen. Sorry for, um, what I said. There you go.” 

The annoying woman glances at him, eyes full of wariness, frantically moving and scanning his face for any signs of mockery. He narrows his eye at the insulting distrust she doesn’t voice and waits for her to say something. 

Nothing comes. The marine simply turns her face to the ocean, calm as Brook’s soothing song. Wind blowing her hair, getting into her face and he has the nonsensical idea of raising his hand and brushing it off. He fucking controls himself because it might be the booze taking over. 

The silence stretches and it's disturbing his peace — she wouldn’t stop chatting with Tra-guy, but won’t even try to say a word to him? 

But then she's moving, clenching and unclenching her fists and he thinks there's something she wants to say but doesn't know how. Zoro waits patiently because he doesn’t want to fucking upset her more and go to sleep with that hammering in his head. He'll let her talk as Tra-guy did.

"I… I think I'm almost at the end of building up my true idea of justice. And for that, I want to make amends," she turns completely to look at him, and the fucking woman has the nerve to, once again, look pretty.  _ For fuck's sake, this woman has to go. _ She speaks again and he's captivated by her soft voice, "I don't think we're able to get along, considering your despise for me and my abilities, but—"

"I don't despise you." He blurts out, without even registering his words, savoring the astonishment in her features.

She squints her eyes and says slowly, "Somehow… I find it hard to believe."

_ Of fucking course. _

He rolls his eye and scoffs, "Do as you wish, woman. See if I care."

Then he hears a chuckle, followed by a wholehearted laugh. It's the first grin she gives him in the whole fucking night. The party is nearing its end and after hours, she decides to stop torturing him, finally offering some happiness from her part.

"You're really weird, Roronoa, do you know that? You might be really drunk while saying this, but just for today, I'll accept your apology. If you made your way down here, you must be actually sorry. And I appreciate it."

He grunts and she grins.

_ I guess it's a good start. _

—

Law was, for the lack of a better word, dead tired.

He couldn’t understand how the hell these damned Strawhats have so much stamina. It's almost dawn and only now are they starting to feel tired.  _ For fuck's sake, I just want to leave this madness. _

A soft but groggy giggle comes from his right and he sees the marine woman is still up.  _ She's definitely drunk now _ .

He had spent quite some time in her company and it seems that, after she had settled her differences with Zoro-ya, at least for that night, she had spent a while with him too. Not that Law actually cares. They all like to be very clingy, always trying to rub their exacerbated comradeship on him, but hell no. He's not having that.

Law is not stupid, he knows her company was just a means for him to escape the rubber grasp of death, and the marine, along with the women of the Strawhats' crew, was the wisest option.

He sees her leaving Zoro-ya's side only to stumble soon after.  _ For fuck's sake… this woman is clumsy beyond limits. _ The other man is by her side at an impressive speed, one hand in the middle of her back and the other on her arm. The woman simply smiles, face completely flushed, and excuses herself from the party.

Zoro-ya keeps watching her back for a minute, before leaning against the railing. After the marine woman decided to give him the time of the day, he seemed to loosen up and the scowl had lessened a bit.

Law wonders why.

He chooses to pay no mind to the other pirate and prefers to watch the things unraveling around him. Observing has always been his true forte, and he rather keep an eye on Strawhat-ya's every movement so he could flee beforehand instead of musing about why the other swordsman is so lost in thoughts.

He sits in one of the lawn chairs and sees some drunken people getting ready to sleep on the deck, Nami-ya giving Strawhat-ya a piggyback ride to put him to sleep ( _ Nami-ya has a strange strength sometimes _ ), Nico-ya carrying the reindeer to the boy's bedroom while Bone-ya is still playing some relaxing song. 

From out of the corner of his eyes, he notices Zoro-ya moving, probably preparing to leave and isolate himself somewhere inside the ship, and the small grin on his face makes Law frown. This was the first time he saw the younger man smile that night and he knows it because the swordsman spent the whole fucking party glaring at him.

Something clicks and he might even be wrong in his assumption because his energy is kind of drained, but he’s almost sure he found the reason for the murdering aura that came from the green-haired pirate. 

_ Ah. So that's why you were being so hostile. _

With the crazy Captain of the Strawhats finally out of the way and with his new discovery, he decides to call it a night and gets up to leave so he can go to sleep beside his own crew.

The swordsman walks in his direction and Law greets him, "Zoro-ya."

"Tra-guy," Zoro nods.

Law keeps going his way until he remembers that the swordsman has yet to pay for deliberately delivering him to one of the most obnoxious persons he has ever met. So he stops and looks over his shoulder, speaking loud enough to grab the other man's attention.

“Ya know… if you wanted to spend time with her, you just had to say so, Zoro-ya.”

The younger man stops dead in his tracks and slowly turns around to look at him, looking baffled for a fleeting second, and then he’s glaring ominously again. Law doesn’t wait for any retort, just walks away, a crooked smile plastered on his face.

_ Heh. It serves you right. _

**Author's Note:**

> First and foremost, a _huuuge_ shout-out to [ni21](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ni21/) and [Inurshuh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inurshuh) for beta reading (I have beta readers now, people! I feel so fancy) and being very patient with me. I love you both, girls and thank you so so much. 
> 
> Secondly… I really liked to write Law, although I still need to get the hang of it.
> 
> And you also should check it out her fics, btw: [Hot](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24561745) by Inu is so good and… _hot_ (ba dum tss) and [Scars on the Back](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24222232/chapters/58356634) by ni is one of my precious gifts and has one of the best scenes I've read so far! I wish I could give you a spoiler, but I can't but aahh CUDDLES!)


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